China National Games

The National Games rowing regatta had 557 rowers taking part with 16 boat classes contested. Rowers compete for their provinces and Liaoning Province sent the most rowers. At the end of racing Liaoning province and Shandong province were at the top of the medals table each winning four gold medals.

Liu Aijie, the vice president of the Chinese Rowing Association said the standard looked to have improved from four years ago with faster times being recorded. Aijie also noted that some of the times in the finals were the best recorded in China. The lightweight women’s double sculls and lightweight women’s quadruple sculls both came within seconds of the World Best Time. China currently holds the World Best Time in the lightweight quad.

China’s top women’s single sculler, Xiuyun Zhang competed and finished third in the single in a time of 7:27. Zhang, at 37 years old, was the oldest competitor at the regatta. One of China’s most accomplished rowers ever, Zhang was sixth at last year’s London Olympic Games in the single.

Also a stand out competitor was Dongxiang Xu who competed in both the lightweight women’s double sculls and lightweight quadruple sculls. Xu was a silver medallist in the lightweight double at the London Olympics.

The National Games are considered very important for athletes as winning signifies financial benefits and public accolades. This meant that Chinese national team rowers did not compete at this year’s World Rowing Championships as it was too close to their National Games.
The Chinese National Games grew out of the government’s desire to raise China’s standing in the world of sport. When the inaugural event took place in 1959 China was struggling on the international sporting scene, so they decided to compete against themselves. Since then China has returned to the Olympic family and developed a sporting legacy that has raised them to the level of second in the world, behind the United States, at the Olympic Games.